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Bericht uit Jersey over hun oversteek en rondje eiland

Gepubliceerd door Richard Broer op di, 13/11/2012 - 21:16

The two major swims you'd be interested in are the 'Round Jersey' (RJ) and the 'Jersey to France' (J2F) outings.

Tidally assisted the RJ is very roughly 41 miles. Swum on 'springs' it would take a good swimmer some 10 -11 hours. Far different from a Channel swim should you be a bi-lateral or one who breaths to the left then it's a scenic swim. Breathers to the right only have the view a-head and whenever they feed to catch up with the castles, cliff's and bays. At times along the north coast we occasionally log swimmers at close on nine knots, but I hasten to add only for short periods, but it's all good fun. The waters are clean and fresh in relation to the Channel. The tide is never against you, unless I've got my navigation totally wrong. At the low water mark, normally in the area of Corbiere Lighthouse there is little or no assistance and after eight hours you have an hour or so working hard, however by St. Brelades Bay the tide is building once more. RJ swims start about two hours before high water and finish at the southerly end of Elizabeth Castle breakwater on the opposite side of the wall to the start.

Our escort boat can accommodate eight persons comfortably, so room for your trainer/feeder and a family member or two. There are no 'facilities' on board so it's 'bucket and chuck it' I'm afraid. Please check conditions, wind strength and direction before releasing one hand. It's very difficult to maintain decorum let alone navigate in a straight line when this all goes - to pot! ( He knows who he is!)

J2F swims begin an hour before low water on a neap tide from La Coupe, the north east corner of the Island. The course is an almost straight line of 091 degrees (True) to Saint Germain-Ay Plage. On the local nautical chart it's pin-pointed as 'House'. On an AA type road map it's about five mile south of Cateret town. Similar to a Channel swim and opposed to a RJ swim, here we are cutting across and dealing with the complexities of tidal streams moving south initially and then for the last three hours it builds as it heads north, making the last hour or so the toughest of the swim. Again warm, clean water as we move into the French coast, and be prepared for a good number of jelly-fish! As we move east a mile or two south of the Echreville Bell we are passing through the natural habitat of bottle nosed dolphins and if you've been good of late they'll come and play around you. Said to be the best vantage point in Britain for dolphin watching. However there have been times when we've seen none at all. They do have to go to school now and again.

We are in touch with the Jersey Coast guard service at pre-determined points around Jersey and with both Jersey and French authorities across to France. Passports and any necessary visas for all onboard are to be in the hand of your pilot previous to kick-off. The French lack a sense of humour if we stray from their mandatory rules and regulations! Again we would appreciate you supplying your own trainer/feeder plus all vitals required for your crew. We carry large thermos flasks for our crew and hot water for the swimmers needs, however there are no facilities for a general brew-up.

We do not operate in wind strengths of Force four or above, it's not nice, nor comfortable for all concerned.
Be lucky
'Charlie'

Ps. Please don't hesitate to shout and I'll deal with them ASAP. Next season 2015 is as good as full and we are taking bookings for 2016 and beyond.